An angel investor who's helped start over 100 companies reveals the No. 1 thing he looks for in entrepreneurs

If you watch "Shark
Tank," you know there are plenty of traits and behaviors that
can turn off potential investors.

Cockiness, sheepishness, inexperience, idealism — just to name a
few.

It's considerably harder to figure out which characteristics
attract investors and make them believe in the
entrepreneur's business idea.

Even David Rose, a
serial entrepreneur and an angel investor who's either founded or
funded over 100 companies, says it's hard to pinpoint one
specific quality that draws him in. But over the course of his
career, Rose has learned to look for one key predictor of
success: What have they already started?

Rose is the founder and CEO of Gust, which runs a platform and community
for entrepreneurs and early-stage investors. He's also the author
of two books, most recently "The
Startup Checklist."

The majority of the entrepreneurs Rose meets with are in their
20s and 30s — which he says means they've had plenty of time to
come up with an idea and run with it. He told Business
Insider:

If you managed to get through a quarter of a century without ever
yourself having started something, that's a real telltale sign to
me. It doesn't matter what the hell you started, whether it was a
charitable drive or a sports club at school or whatever. Show me,
tell me, help me understand what you have actually started.
Because what entrepreneurs do is they have an idea and then they
execute. They get off their rear end and they go do something.

Rose said he's more inclined to invest in an entrepreneur who's
taken initiative than someone who's spent years acquiring
knowledge without applying it.

"There are a lot of 'wantrepreneurs' out there who are very
well-meaning and love the thought of startup companies," he said.

"They know the industry cold; they've read all the books; they
know all the stuff; but they've never actually done something.
And that is like the killer thing. I would much rather take
somebody who has not done all that reading … but instead just
went and did something."

Research suggests
that serial entrepreneurs are more likely than less seasoned
entrepreneurs to succeed in their business ventures — regardless
of whether they failed or succeeded in the past.

As Rose said, "having experience being a serial entrepreneur is
only either neutral or good. It's not a bad thing, even if you
failed."

The takeaway? If you've got entrepreneurial aspirations, don't
spend all your time reading and thinking about starting
something. Instead, go out and try it — the experience will
likely give you a leg up when you're sitting across the table
from a potential investor.